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Beyblade: Zero Era Plus/Z - Episode 3: The Stone Forest of Zhou Tian
The Stone Forest of Zhou Tian is the third episode of the Beyblade: Zero Era side-story, Beyblade: Zero Era Plus/Z. The Beylin temple is under attack! By the time they arrive, it is too late, the temple has fallen into the hands of the Zhou Dynasty. Des and Hikari round up the remaining Beylin monks and fight to reclaim the remains of the now desecrated temple. They manage to drive out the Zhou that are there, but discover Jun has been kidnapped. Plot Des, Hikari, and Xingke are searching for information in the Bei-Ling archives regarding where the Zhou Dynasty might be located. Hikari tells Des that she’s glad that a lot of the documents were translated into standard style at the start of the Reboot Generation, when it was decided that everyone should speak and write the same language, as otherwise she wouldn’t be much help because she never learned ancient languages like Chinese. Xingke lets out a cry, falling backwards into a mound of dust that has fallen as they have removed various documents, holding up a hand triumphantly and shouting that he has found a clue. Xingke opens the document case to reveal the record of Xiao Luoye, a younger brother of Xiao Deswei, the 72nd Emperor of the Xiao Dynasty, who was exiled alongside 47 other monks for unspecified treason against the Xiao Dynasty and the Bei-Ling temple. He then gets out the document he found on the shelf, which details a battle fought against Xiao Luoye and his renegades by Xiao Deswei and the Bei-Ling monks, where an entire battlefield was turned to stone. Xingke then grabs the document that was next to the one he took, and opens it, inside the case is a document that talks about a stone forest, located in which is a place called Zhou Luoye's Spring. Which causes Hikari to theorise that after leaving the Bei-Ling temple, Xiao Luoye changed his last name to Zhou to symbolise his new life, the spring being the place where he died in the battle, the stone forest and battlefield turned to stone being one in the same. Hikari goes on to suggest that the monks who were exiled alongside Xiao Luoye eventually became the Zhou Dynasty, all taking the name Zhou as a bond of kinship and wherever this stone forest is is where they will find Jun Lea and the other people who have been kidnapped. The three then set to work trying to find a document talking about a stone forest. As Des and Hikari are preparing to leave Xingke enters their room, he tells Des that he won’t be coming with them, as he has to stay behind to protect Bei-Ling in case the Zhou Dynasty returns. Des begrudgingly agrees with Xingke, and Xingke hands him a map, explaining that the circled area of the map is the location of the stone forest, however he was unable to find out the exact location. As the pair are finished preparing the WBBA Transport for their journey a minor monk runs over to them, Des recognises him as Shan Fao, a student of Xingke, who tells Des that Xingke has organised for someone to join them, however he forgot the name that Xingke told him, but it sounded foreign. Des and Hikari pull up to the edge of the area that the map indicates as containing the stone forest, Des notes that it is heavily forested and mountainous, so they will have to traverse the area on foot, going to the top of the closest mountain to get a clearer view of the area. They park the transport and unpack the supplies and equipment that they will need for their journey, Des brings out a cloth parcel from the transport, and holds it out to Hikari, telling her to unwrap it. Hikari does so, and inside the parcel are revealed two sword-launchers, Des explains that he had Renaud make a bunch of them after that crazy business with Reconquista, and they are based on the Keys of Concord. The pair load up their gear and begin the long trek to the top of the first mountain, they arrive there by nightfall, and Hikari tells Des that it is too dark to see anything, so they may as well make camp and try and find the Zhou Dynasty hideout in the morning. The pair set up camp and are soon preparing dinner over a small campfire, Des confides in Hikari that he feels even more unsure about his position as the Bei-Ling emperor than he did before they met, as he can’t even protect people close to him, how can he protect the whole of China. Hikari reassures Des, telling him that he managed to save the world from Ramaz Dolsa, so he’ll be able to stop anything that comes his way. Des continues, adding that he feels like he has been letting Bei-Ling down by not being there, instead being selfish and going off to parties and galas to have fun, and that if he had been in China more often he may have seen the signs of an attack before it happened. Hikari embraces Des tightly, replying that she believes Des can save Jun and the others, before resting her head on his shoulder. Morning comes and Des awakens first, throwing on his clothing and leaves Hikari to sleep, before exiting the small tent to survey the area below the mountain. To Des’s dismay the area is covered in fog, however the area is a bowl shape surrounded by mountains, leading Des to believe that the forest is somewhere down in the fog. Des senses a familiar spirit, however he brushes it off and wakes Hikari, who throws on her clothes before joining Des for breakfast. After breakfast the pair dismantle their campsite and head down the mountain, the journey is significantly shorter due to the pair finding stairs cut into the mountain leading to the bottom. At the bottom of the mountain the pair find themselves in a ravine, the sides of which are overgrown, with strange plant-covered rocks along the path, which Hikari notes seem to be effigies. Des looks up an notes that the mist has cleared from above them, but it still seems to be in the ravine, obscuring their view forward. The pair are suddenly ambushed by a group of identical beys, Des and Hikari launch their beys in response. The group of beys split in half and circle Xialong and Dragonisis separately, barraging them as they do. Dragonisis uses its ability Waterfall Barrier to create a powerful water barrier around it, which cause the attacking beys to bounce of harmlessly, and Xiaolong uses its ability Solid Iron Wall to create itself a shield too. The attacking beys continue their useless barrage, Hikari gives Des a signal ,and Dragonisis begins to uses its ability Syphoned Flood to draw moisture from the air around it into a puddle. The puddle increases in size to swamp the whole battlefield, and Des activates Xiaolong’s ability Electric Embrace, as he does so Dragonisis drops its shield and leaps into the air, just as the electricity from the ability fries the opposing beys. The pair recall the beys, and Des picks up one of the defeat beys before they can be recalled, noting the character for “Zhou” on it, and says they’re on the right track. Des and Hikari continue their trek, they follow the ravine, occasionally following side trails from forks in the ravine that lead to monuments of some kind, before backtracking and returning to main path, eventually they come to the place they’ve been searching for, the stone forest. As Des and Hikari are about to enter the stone forest, a voice calls out to them, and they turn to see a familiar red-haired boy.